The morning sky, devoid of the faint gloom that had fallen ever since the great Dark descended, lit up the world and illuminated it in all its splendour. It had been months since Claud and Lily last saw a brilliant sky, untinged by the Moons and the Dark.

“It’s pretty.” Claud looked out of the window at the rising sun and smiled. “Of course, I’ll probably complain that it’s too bloody hot after a few hours, and that the Dark should do something about this.”

“With people like you, does the Dark really need the Moons as an enemy?” Lily pulled him back down onto the bed, and the mattress shook. “Are we in a rush today?”

“No, we aren’t,” Claud replied. “Why?”

“I want to sleep in for a bit,” Lily replied, smiling. Her violet hair rippled as she said those words, and Claud nodded. Loaning out his arm as usual, he felt the familiar weight of her head roll up his arm, and he smiled.

“You really like to sleep on my arm for some reason,” Claud noted.

“Well, the pillow’s a bit too short, and your arm has the right proportion of muscle that makes it nice,” Lily replied. “Right, are you feeling better? I’m not sure if one plate of chicken’s enough for you.”

“It’s not, actually.” Claud rubbed his stomach. “I’m still hungry. And tired. Sleeping sounds like the better method, though, which is why I’m still drowsy despite it being the morning.”

“I’m quite sure most of us are drowsy after waking up.” Lily yawned once. “Proof? Me.”

She adjusted her head for a few seconds, and then snuggled up to him like a kitten. Claud felt the drowsiness hit him again, and he decided to close his eyes for a bit. He would probably wake up ten minutes later anyway, and there really wasn’t anything to do now. After all, the Moons and the Dark were mobilising their own forces and marching out — all this had nothing to do with him.

Yawning once, he closed his eyes and gave in to the fatigue within him. It wasn’t an issue by a stretch of the imagination, given that the developments that would occur over the next few days had absolutely nothing to do with him whatsoever.

The afternoon sun was peeking into their room when he next woke up, his right arm now bearing the quality of some heavy metal. To his side, Lily snoozed away merrily, a peaceful smile on her lips, and Claud glared at the window. There was definitely some punchline here that he had missed, especially since the two of them were supposed to go for lunch.

“Wakey wakey, it’s time for…lunch, I suppose?” Claud wasn’t too sure either, but Lily heeded his words anyway. Murmuring something about stuffing a stick of nitro-something into a hole, she sat up properly, looked around blearily, and the yawned.

“Is it lunchtime?”

“From the looks of the sun? I think it’s almost dinner,” Claud replied. “But that was indeed a good nap. Maybe I should sleep in more often instead of getting up and everything. How does that sound?”

“I think we should focus on building up our mana circuits,” Lily replied.

“Right.” Claud narrowed his eyes. “After this, the next major event should be the Trial of Aeons, which will begin one season from now. Full Moon. We should work extra hard for this…yes, don’t try to look away from me. You need to get past your Second Tutorial.”

Lily grimaced. “I’m not even sure what to expect.”

“And I did things the wrong way,” Claud added. “You’ll need to make do with what Dust told you, but I have faith in you. After all, you alone went back to your family to mete out justice. I believe in the strength of your convictions.”

“The pep talk is nice, but I think we should wash up first and—” An adorable growl came from Lily’s stomach, and she cleared her throat. “And get some food in us. Especially you. You still look starved.”

“It’s just my body taking the necessary nutrients to heal me,” Claud replied. “Right, we should also keep an ear out for any news…but I get a feeling that only trouble would await. Therefore, I suggest that we just get our meals and return back here to burn our next mana circuits into completion.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I suppose vacation is over…”

“Wait, I think we forgot something really important.” Claud paused. “We went all the way to Celestia to grab some new artefacts and things, right? Yeah, so other than burning some of our lifespan, we’ll also need to explore the uses of those little trinkets we brought back too.”

Lily’s eyes twinkled. “Can we do that today?”

Claud paused. It was unwise for the both of them to slack off. However, given his Master-rank Mana Control Proficiency, he could definitely hold a conversation and investigate things while burning his mana circuit…and Crown was also here. Between these two factors, Claud had a feeling that he could actually complete his fifth mana circuit while investigating those items he brought back.

“Okay, but I’ll be burning my mana circuits on the side,” Claud replied. “I should be able to handle that, at least.”

Lily eyed him. “You’re just low-key showing off, right? Right?”

“I’m not.” Claud jiggled his shoulders. “Alright, let’s wash up and get some food into our bellies.”

He paused for a moment, straightened Lily’s hair and then got up from bed slowly. His bones were whining as he moved, but there really wasn’t anything much he could do about all that pain.

“I’m fine,” Claud cut in hastily, forestalling Lily’s attempts to help him. “Just need to get used to it…and my right arm is really numb. You go first. I’ll take some time, probably.”

Lily shook her head. “Together. Just in case. And you’re the one who wrote that booklet on ways to die, so you better not reject my offer of help.”

“…Fine.”

After around twenty minutes — which pretty much consisted of them washing up together in a somewhat undignified manner — the two of them went downstairs. Considering that Claud was a mid-ranked folder and Lily was on the verge of following suit, he couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed.

“…You looked like you’re ashamed of something. Is me helping to wash you really that shameful?” Lily asked.

“No, it’s not that,” Claud replied. “Just that it’s not befitting of our status to be walking around injured, right? And while I did enjoy splashing water on your face, it’s not dignified…”

“Since when did you care about dignity?” Lily asked, surprised. “Come on, it’s all fun and games. Throw aside those stupid social constructs. Tetra-folder or not, you’re my Claud, and that’s all I care about. I expect you to treat me the same, okay? I won’t go ‘oh ho ho’ and cover my mouth with a fan when laughing.”

“You don’t mind?” Claud asked. “Alright, then. It so happens that I really feel a bit weak…”

“Stop trying to take advantage of me, alright?”

Laughing, Claud went to the table and sat there matter-of-factly. It wasn’t like Lily was going to let him take the food anyway, and as she placed a rather huge order, Claud looked around the tavern. The place was fairly deserted, as if yesterday’s shower of lifeforce had changed the mentalities of the people who had been sheltering here.

Of course, these people were just off doing some work outside — if Claud really wanted some intelligence on what was going on recently, he would have to wait for them to return or for Lostfon’s town-crier.

Stretching his muscles and keeping them moving, Claud continued to look out of the window, taking in the sight of the late afternoon sun. The shadowy tint that had made the sunlight seem hollow had vanished with the descent of the Moons.

This was truly Lostfon in the late afternoon.

“I’m back!” Lily bounced over with two trays laden with mounds of chicken shreds. “They’re all black pepper or lemon pepper.”

“Nice, thanks.” Claud licked his lips. “Right, did the old man say anything?”

Lily laughed. “Yeah. He was talking about last night, when he and everyone just went out to soak in the shower of lifeforce. It was nice, but then more and more people got drunk from both lifeforce and alcohol, so they ended up stripping in the middle of the street. In the end, the town guards came by and took most of the strippers into a one-night stay at the jail.”

“I am profoundly glad that we weren’t there then,” Claud muttered. “Would have dirtied your eyes.”

“Oh, come on. At most, I’ll just toss a bomb there or something,” Lily replied off-handedly.

“You haven’t played with them recently, now that I think about it,” Claud replied. “Weren’t your materials in your backpack?”

“Well, I didn’t want to blow up the ruins,” Lily replied. “I suppose I could tinker around with them now that we’re back. We used a lot of skillstrips recently too; if something happens, don’t hesitate to use my explosives. It should serve well as a very loud distraction.”

“Which would help me in time-sensitive high efficiency trade runs, yes.” Claud touched the ring on his finger. “And now I have this. Feels like the world is conspiring to improve my capabilities.”

“…Aren’t you a mighty tetra-folder?” Lily rolled her eyes. “Theft should be beneath you by now.”

“It’s fun, okay?”

“Really?”

“And I get to donate the spoils to needy people,” Claud added.

“…Now that’s something I can get behind.” Lily sniffed at the food. “Come on, let’s eat! We still have lots of things to do.”

It was a bit rich for the person who insisted on sleeping in to say that, but again, Claud was complicit in the whole thing too. Devoting his attention to devouring the mound of meat, the two of them soon returned to their room, appetites sated and ready to check out an artefact that had killed so many Second Shadows.

Pulling out the weird, Comms Console-lookalike artefact, Claud and Lily exchanged glances.

It was time to work.